A Single Shard (A Tangled One-Shot)
by BabyFox08
Summary: Its mere hours after Eugene saved Rapunzel's life by cutting her magical hair short. Rapunzel awakens in the night and feels the need to secretly express the emotions she is feeling towards the sudden and drastic change. This is my interpretation of what Rapunzel would feel after Eugene cut her hair without warning.


**Disclaimer: The characters featured in this fanfiction do not belong to me, they belong to Disney.**

Author's Note: Recently while watching Tangled, I noticed that Rapunzel never voices her feelings about her hair. However I believe that if someone chopped your magical hair off without warning, you'd be pretty emotional about. This fanfiction reflects what I imagine would be Rapunzel's reaction to her hair a few hours after it is cut.

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His soft breath filled the room and echoed off of the tower walls. She was sure that he was asleep and that was exactly what she needed. Though Rapunzel's tears had healed Eugene, the stab in the stomach had drained him. Add that onto the events that immediately followed, the boy could barely keep his eyes open. Travel was out of the question, so Rapunzel agreed to stay one final night in the tower for his sake, though she was more than anxious to leave the place of shattered memories as soon as possible. She pushed the covers on her bed off and sat on the edge of the mattress, staring out the window. Something rose in her chest. Rapunzel knew that she shouldn't have been upset about Gothel's traumatic death. After all, that was the woman that stole her from her parents only to harvest her hair's magic to fill her own sadistic obsession with youth, but at the same time she was the woman who had raised her. Gothel had supported her, told her that she loved her, and kept her free from danger. Even if it was only to keep Rapunzel's hair safe, there was still a deeply rooted feeling of gratitude in the eighteen year old. Her death was something that wouldn't be easy to forget, especially while she was still in the tower with remnants of the whole situation covering the floor. Rapunzel felt trapped in movie that wouldn't stop rewinding. Silently she tip-toed out of bed, ready to start her grieving process. She still couldn't believe that everything had happened so quickly.

Carefully stepping over the glass covering the floor, she made her way to the long snake of hair blanketing the floor and sat next to it, pulling it into her lap. Her hair had always been there for her. It was something untouchable and unique. It was the reason Gothel had taken her from her real mother. Rapunzel couldn't help but yearn for her long locks. Without them she felt bare and light-headed. She tan her fingers through the strands, once a shimmering and healthy blond, now a rich brown color, completely drained of power. The sight nearly broke her. Gently she placed her hair back on the floor and stood once more. She scanned the floor in search of a single object; the shard of glass Eugene had used to cut her hair. Though it was ultimately the tool used to slay her power, she still felt as though she needed to find it. She held her breath and stepped over his sleeping body, making her way over to place Eugene had previously been shackled. After a few more minutes of searching, she finally came upon the silver shard. Pressing the cool glass into her palm, she let out a long sigh. How such an insignificant piece of glass could cause such detrimental damage to everything she'd ever known, she didn't know. It was because of this one sliver of glass that she no longer had long hair. It was gone, as was her mother. Suddenly she felt even more alone although Eugene was so close. A sort of hollowness settled in her stomach. Everything had changed.

Slipping the shard into her dress pocket, she walked into the other room and stared at her reflection in the only intact mirror in the tower. She looked at her apple green irises, shimmering with tears, her cute button nose and light gold freckles dancing across the bridge of her nose. Her small frame rattled as she inhaled. Everything looked the same except for one major thing. The golden hair that had forever cascaded down her back and touched the floor was gone, replaced by a short crop of messy dark layers. There had never before been a time in her life when her hair was anywhere near that short. She was used to being the girl with the long hair, now that her long hair was gone, she didn't know what she was.  
Lightly she reached up and pulled her fingers through the short locks. Tears slipped down her cheeks as her touch validated her complete lack of hair. She realized then that she would never again spend countless hours brushing her hair. She could no longer use it to hang from the ceiling to paint the walls. Forget lassoing anything, her hair wasn't even long enough to put in a ponytail. It was just gone. Out of habit she reached up to twirl a strand around her finger, internally cringing when her finger was met with air. She stared back at her reflection and attempted to pull her hair down, trying to make it longer. Her attempts were futile. Her hair simply bounced back into its spiky layers. She threw her hands down in frustration, more tears soaking her cheeks. She looked at floor, not wanting to look at her reflection any longer.

At that moment a hand came down on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise, a high-pitched sound escaping her lips. She lifted her eyes back up to the mirror. Eugene was standing behind her, concern prevalent in his deep brown eyes. He leaned down, his face next to hers. Softly, he whispered, "I'm sorry I cut it so short." She forced a smile. "I-it's fine," Rapunzel replied. He stared at her, genuine regret lining his countenance. "Really," he started. "If I could have reached even an inch further I would have. You're probably really upset. I know your hair meant a lot to you," he finished. Suddenly it was as if some internal dam broke inside of Rapunzel. Soft sobs wracked her body, tears flooding her eyes. Eugene held her close and stroked what was left of her hair, guilt surging through his body. He knew that if he'd just been able to reach further, she wouldn't be so miserable. He blamed himself for taking away her power, her connection with Gothel, and her image.  
Eventually Rapunzel broke away and met Eugene's chocolate eyes with her green ones. "I'm not mad at you," she stated firmly. Eugene's eyes widened in surprise. "Rapunzel, really. I understand if you're angry. You clearly hate what I did," he answered. It was Rapunzel's turn to look surprised. "Hate it? I don't hate it. At least I don't think I do. It's just different. My long hair was such a big part of my life, such a big part of me. It's going to take a while to get used to, but I'm not mad. You sacrificed yourself to save me. I could never be upset about that," she said. He pulled her into a tight hug. "I would do anything for you," he whispered. "Even die." She smiled softly, knowing it was true. "I love you Eugene," she responded, burying her face into his shirt. "I love you to Rapunzel," he said. She raised her face and stood on tip-toes. He moved his face closer, gently pressing his lips to hers. The broke apart shortly and Eugene slipped his hand into hers. "What do you say we get out here?" He questioned. Rapunzel nodded and sat Pascal on her shoulder. "Let's go." With that they descended down the staircase, Rapunzel gripping Eugene's palm in one hand and the shard of mirror in the other.


End file.
